Kodansha USA has announced that the popular soccer manga Blue Lock is getting its English print release, with volume 1 scheduled to arrive in Summer 2022! It will be distributed by Penguin Random House. The manga written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro (As the Gods Will: The Second Series) and illustrated by Yusuke Nomura (Dolly Kill Kill) has been serialized in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine (same as Fire Force, Edens Zero, etc.) since August 2018, and fans have been looking forward to an English print release. Check out the cover of volume 1:
The series won Best Shonen at the 45th Kodansha Manga Awards in 2021, an award that was previously won by Tokyo Revengers in 2020. In addition, it’s a manga which the author of Attack on Titan Hajime Isayama recommended as one everyone should read. You can read the preview of chapter 1 for free, and Kodansha describes the story:
After a disastrous defeat at the 2018 World Cup, Japan’s team struggles to regroup. But what’s missing? An absolute Ace Striker, who can guide them to the win! The Football Association is hell-bent on creating a striker who hungers for goals and thirsts for victory, and who can be the decisive instrument in turning around a losing match … To do so, they’ve gathered 300 of Japan’s best and brightest youth players. Who will emerge to lead the team … and will they be able to out-muscle and out-ego everyone who stands in their way?
Besides the English print release of the manga, Blue Lock is also getting an anime adaptation in 2022. Studio 8-Bit (Tensura, Stars Align) is in charge of the production, with Tetsuaki Watanabe as director.
Source: Kodansha, Press Release
© 金城 宗幸 (原著), ノ村 優介 (著) / KODANSHA 講談社
